Bishops Stortford swimming club competed in the National Arena Swimming League on Saturday Evening. This was the first round of three so the team had to be in at least the top 3 to mount a promotion challenge

They were up against some tough opposition. Potter Bar, Leander, Bexley, Greenwich Royals, Hemel Hempstead and Wandsworth.

Mia Carter was impressive winning the 100m Backstroke, Alex Catton also touched out first. Daniel Chada returned to top form for top spot in the 100m Backstroke, Chloe Ogden stepped up to win the 100 Breaststroke, Kia Phillips was a strong performer with a super win in 50m Butterfly.

The ladies and men open medley relay teams both were winners also 15/under boys and girls medley relays were impressive in their victories.

A special mention for Cira Fletcher who travelled from Nottingham to compete for the club.

Final Results on the night were Leander 1st, Bishops Stortford 2nd,Bexley 3rd.

Now Bishops Stortford are in a promotion dog fight lying 3rd out of 16 teams with two teams going up.

Beniot Grattepanche Head coach said it is exciting times for the club with a number of Excellent performances. Our swimmers are a match for anyone and it is delightful to see the younger swimmers perform so well at this National Level Event.

11 year age group Jaymee Wardell bronze in the gruelling 400m Individual Medley 6:32.85, Roman Artamonov bronze 200m Breaststroke. Roman also achieved consideration times in 3 events for 2018 County Championships.

Four swimmers from Bishops Stortford swimming club have just returned from a very successful trip to the world masters in Budapest. Over 15,000 athletes
took part in the 2 week event staged on the banks of the Danube in the newly built Duna pool.

The star of the show was Lizzie Bellinger, swimming in the 35-39 year age group she achieved two bronzes and a Fifth. The 3rd place medals where for the 50 and the 100 butterfly with times of 29.71 and 1.06.70 respectively. Lizzie swam a 2.38.92 on the gruelling 200m fly. The winner of all three races was the American Noriko Inada a former Olympian.

Sally Winter, made her return to competition after a serious bike accident, she swam the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle events in the 55/59 age group. She finished 7th on both the 100 and 200 free (1.07.79 and 2.29.28) and 10th in the 50 free (31.59). All were seasons best times.

Barry Chandler was competing in his last swim for the club for a while as heheads off for a ‘gap year’ to Spain and south America. In the 60-64 age group he was placed 8th in the 50 Fly in a time of 30.85 and 30th in the 50 freestyle in a time of 29.63, he was 37th in the 100 freestyle (1.10.34)

Ashley Meerloo (55-59) was competing in his first World event and managed personal best masters times on all his events. He finished 22nd in the 100 freestyle in a time of 1.04.25, he was 11th in the 50m fly in 30.08 and 19th in the 50 free in 28.57. In his 100 fly Ashley managed to break the 1.10.00 barrier and finished 12th in 1.09.97.